Product Reviews

Thanks to Urban Decay’s two newest 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencils, public nudity is back — nudity as in nude lips, the kind that go great with everything. They’re super low maintenance, which spells great for lazy beasts like moi.

But getting the right nude lip look can be tricky. It doesn’t take much to go from Angelina Jolie lip color to Night of the Living Dead.

This fall, Urban Decay is making nude lips a little easier to get with two new shades of lip liner.

Wallflower (a warm peachy pink) and Paranoid (a cool dark pink) join UD’s existing family of 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencils ($16 each).

If you’re new to them, you’re in for a treat. UD cooked up a moisturizing formula packed with hydrating ingredients like vitamin E, jojoba and cottonseed oils. They combine to create a soft, creamy lip pencil that applies like butter on bread.

All that, and they’re waterproof, too, lasting all day long without drying out my lips.

Both Paranoid and Wallflower pair perfectly with Urban Decay’s creamy pink lipstick in Naked ($22), another standout member of UD’s collection for fall.

Paranoid

Paranoid on lips

Paranoid layered beneath Urban Decay lipstick in Naked

[Continue reading…]

Oh, happy day, ladies! Illamasqua’s *finally* available on the Sephora website. 🙂

If you’re thinking about picking up a tube of Sheer Lipgloss ($19) and the color I tested today is any indication, brace yourself for serious sheerness. Today I wore Rouse, a creamy light pink. It’s one of the 10 shades currently available through Sephora online.

Subtle hint of color

Despite how deliriously bright it looks in the tube, Rouse applies as a subtle pink tint — so subtle, in fact, that it almost looks like I’m wearing clear gloss.

I’m on the fence about Rouse on account of her pigmentation (or lack thereof). My lips aren’t uber-full or pigmented, so I usually lean toward glosses with more color payoff, you know? — brighter colors that draw more attention to my otherwise uninspiring lips.

But women like my BFF Jen — blessed with full, luscious lips — may prefer a sheer, low-key color like Rouse, especially for work.

If you’re one of those ladies, then haaay — jackpot!

Everything else

As for texture, I’d say Illamasqua Sheer Lipgloss feels slightly thinner and less sticky than a MAC Lipglass (in a good way), and I kinda like the faintly fruity flavor and scent (reminds me of hard candy, yum!).

The texture keeps me interested in Rouse despite how sheer it is, so I’m gonna keep the color around for days when I’m not in the mood for a high-maintenance pink or red lip.

Sometimes you just want a non-fussy lip look, and those are times when Rouse will do me just fine.

Illamasqua Sheer Lipgloss in Rouse

Price: $19 for a 7-ml tube
Use: A shiny, non-sticky pink lipgloss with just a hint of pink pigmentation
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B

You might like Illamasqua Sheer Lipgloss in Rouse if…

• you like subtle lip looks,
• you like non-sticky glosses, and/or
• you like tasty, fragrant lip products.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

On paper, cream blushes are pure makeup genius. They’re easy to apply and to blend (no brushes required), travel well and deliver a beautiful natural flush.

But with great power comes great responsibility.

Many cream blushes also have an unfortunate downside — poor staying power. Some disappear faster than those tykes from Another Bad Creation.

The trick is to find one that lasts, and I think I found one that does: Illamasqua’s Cream Blusher in Rude ($26). It’s a pinkish matte coral that stays put for hours, even in sticky summer heat.

Won’t budge for nothin’

I’ve worn Rude on bare skin, beneath foundation and on top of it; I’ve even dabbed it on powder. No matter what, it has always stayed put, despite my oily cheeks, from dawn till dusk.

I even mistakenly forgot one night and went to bed with it still on (I couldn’t wait to try it and forgot to wash it off, oops). It was still there come morning, leading me to give it my Vampire’s Choice Award.

If I were a True Blood vampire, I’d soo rock this shizz till the break of dawn, yo!

It’s not marketed as sweat proof, but it might as well be. Even in hella hot weather, Rude doesn’t fade. Where other cream blushes have melted away, like when I’m covered in sweat, pulling a Whitney circa the Bobby Brown years, Illamasqua Cream Blusher’s still going strong.

Pigmentation, texture and scent

Rude is one of 16 Cream Blushers currently available on the Illamasqua website, and like the other Illamasqua products I’ve tried, it delivers rich color.

I think it feels thicker and stickier than cream products like NARS the Multiple, but it feels thinner than a pot of Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow.

And the scent? — In the pan it smells faintly of sugar cookies, but I don’t detect the fragrance when it’s worn on my cheeks.

Not cheap

It’s too bad that such a badass blush isn’t a little cheaper…

A pan of Rude runs $26, venturing into Chanel Glossimer territory, but a little goes a long way, with a single tiny dab delivering a visibly flushed cheek.

And Illamasqua doesn’t skimp on quantity, either, which helps the price go down a little easier. The pan is huge (I can barely wrap my fingers around it when I’m holding it in my hand)!

Considering the quantity of product you get and the quality itself, I think it works out to be a pretty good deal.

[Continue reading…]

Have you ever noticed how often the word “blue” turns up in song titles? Sitting down to play with Lancome’s Declaring Indigo collection, I thought of New Order’s Blue Monday and When the Stars Go Blue, by Ryan Adams.

Lancome’s new collection is blue beauty booty for eyes and nails. So far I’ve tested three pieces from the release.

Ink Artliner in Indigo Charm and Virtuose Mascara in Royal Blue

Yesterday I fell hard for Les Vernis nail polish in Indigo Paris ($18).

It had me at bonjour!

And today, Ink Artliner in Indigo Charm ($24) and Virtuose Mascara in Royal Blue ($25) ran away with my heart.

Ink Artliner in Indigo Charm ($24) is captivating in her shimmery, intensely pigmented indigo blue. A gel liner that doesn’t budge for nuthin’, she stays on my lids all day long without smudging, and I think she totes makes brown eyes *pop*.

The thick, semi-wet formula — easy to apply and control — should also be great for gel liner neophytes and lazy girls (like moi). Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: A+

Virtuose Mascara in Royal Blue ($25) nearly blinded me with bling when I first laid eyes on her. A dark blue mascara with golden glitter, this baby curls, lengthens and defines lashes like nobody’s bidness.

It looks a little scary in the tube, but no worries — she’s completely wearable. The shade applies as a subtle dark blue with teeny pieces of golden glitter — enough for just a hint of sparkle — so you don’t have to worry about looking like one of the Solid Gold Dancers circa 1981. Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B+

Swatches from left to right: Virtuose Mascara in Royal Blue, Ink Artliner in Indigo Charm

I think Lancome stands out with this release. Shades of gray are making big splashes over at Chanel and Dior this fall, but Lancome veers into almost summery territory with Declaring Indigo’s palette of deep blues, bronzes, golds and browns. It’s different, and from what I’ve seen so far, I like. 🙂

Let me know what you think.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The Chanel Venice collection for fall 2009 keeps dishing out surprises.

First, the two summery Glossimers threw me for a loop, and now it’s the Eye Gloss ($65).

My first impression? Wearability — in that I wasn’t sure how wearable this quad would be, but after some quality playtime with it yesterday, I’ve made up my mind. The colors make fantastic eyeshadow bases, but they do come with a few serious caveats.

Varying pigmentation

Chanel packed the Eye Gloss quad with four creamy shadows in shades of shimmery gold, beige, burgundy and black. Both the beige and gold shades apply with a medium pigmentation, while the burgundy and black shades apply with rich, deep color.

Eye Gloss in beige

Texture and finish

The tester I’d first touched at a counter the other day must have been sitting out for a while. At that time I’d thought the colors felt thin and dry to the touch. Not so, though, because the shadows in the quad I purchased feel thick and moist, kinda like a lip gloss.

The moistness allows for a lot of movement on my skin, and unlike MAC Paint Pots or Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadows, which start off creamy but dry within a few minutes, the Eye Gloss shades remain wet much longer on the skin, and that allows for a lot of time to blend, layer and manipulate the gloss around my lids. Nice.
[Continue reading…]